Official Neal Morse(-related) albums countdown thread! (# 01 featured!!!!)

[DTwwbwMP]

Thanks Kev for running and organizing this Countdown! It's been a lot of fun following and participating in it! 

[HOF]

Yes, many thanks again Kev for running this. I feel like we were somewhat better behaved this time. 

[Learning2Live]

Thanks Kev for running this. I didn't participate but I read and kept up with this every day. If nothing else, it was a great reminder of just how prolific Neal's total discography is. He has become my favorite artist, and his run from Testimony through Sola Scriptura is as good of a 4-album run as I've heard from anyone. His music has moved me emotionally like no other prior, and getting in touch with that side and being able to allow myself be moved like that musically will be his greatest takeaway from me. So glad that I finally discovered him (early 2010s) and can't wait to hear what's next.

Thanks again Kev!

[OpenYourEyes311]

Couldn't keep up with this myself, but I love the love for almost everything Neal. Not surprised with #1, but I am surprised that it wasn't even CLOSE. Bridge is a fantastic record. I think it was my #2. Not a bad song on it. But Similitude is probably my all-time favorite/most-meaningful-to-me album. My dad had The Wall. This is my Wall.

Thanks to Kev for running the show!

[425]

Commenting on the final two albums:

I had The Similitude of a Dream at #8. That actually makes it my lowest-ranked NMB album, but that's a testament to how strong that project has been in its first eight years. The main reason it's below the others is that I don't think it's as consistently good. The second disc is absolutely incredible, but the first disc is, in my opinion, a bit uneven. I really like the first few tracks, and the great run that goes through the entire second disc begins with So Far Gone, but the We Have Got to Go -> The Ways of a Fool run is not my favorite. It's good, but mortal.

I agree with bosk that The Great Adventure is an improvement over it in almost every respect. One exception is Broken Sky/Long Day (Reprise), which I think is incredible and therefore slightly better than the very, very good A Love That Never Dies. The other is Freedom Song, which I don't think has an equivalent on TGA (although there are songs on TGA that don't have an equivalent on TSoaD). I love when Neal does energetic acoustic songs like this and Sing It High, and this is a pivotal moment on the album as a bit of a break before heading into the intense climax.

Where I'm not quite with bosk is that I think TGA actually pushed me to revisit Similitude and revise my opinion on some of the songs in a more positive direction. I think before TGA, I would have had TSoaD down somewhere around #12, behind Testimony, but revisiting it in light of TGA gave me a more positive view of the first disc and improved my overall opinion of it. Very good album, but just outside the top echelon IMO.


I knew Bridge Across Forever would be in my top 2, and I figured it would be the overall #1. Seeing The Whirlwind fall to third gave me a moment of pause, but this is not a surprising outcome. And I think it's deserved, even though I'd put it in second. This album does it all and does it all very well. Stranger is one of the best songs any of those guys ever worked on and Duel is maybe one step behind but not more than that. In fact, seeing as Stranger has maybe been the slightest bit overplayed relative to other TA songs, if I could listen to only one right now I would probably choose Duel.

Then Suite Charlotte Pike is for me what My New World seems to be for a lot of TA fans. I love it. It's a really fun song that also has some more serious emotional moments. If TA is over, I think the biggest miss of their live career is that they never played Charlotte as a standalone piece.

Those three songs occupy over 93% of the album... but I think the title track plays a crucial, crucial role in bringing the whole thing together. It's the emotional center of the album and a beautiful companion to the three giant epics. While it's hard to directly compare a 25-minute epic to a 5-minute piano ballad, I think it's every bit as strong as the best songs here.


Thanks again to Kev for running this! It was fun revisiting a lot of these albums and trying to figure out how to rank the many entries to Neal's monster career.



My full list:

1. The Whirlwind
2. Bridge Across Forever
3. The Great Adventure
4. The Grand Experiment
5. Kaleidoscope
6. ?
7. Innocence & Danger
8. The Similitude of a Dream
9. Sola Scriptura
10. SMPTe
11. Testimony
12. Momentum
13. Sola Gratia
14. Snow
15. Testimony 2
16. Day for Night
17. V
18. The Light
19. The Absolute Universe
20. The Kindness of Strangers
21. Lifeline
22. One
23. Beware of Darkness
24. Second Nature
25. Flying Colors

[KevShmev]

Thanks for all the thanks!

Would you consider doing one for Roine Stolt or Steven Wilson, both of whom have similarly large discographies with various projects and bands? Could be daunting but I'd be down for those as well.
 

Was already considering doing a Steven Wilson one similar to this (all albums SW), so that might pop up sooner than you think.

[OpenYourEyes311]

Thanks for all the thanks!

Would you consider doing one for Roine Stolt or Steven Wilson, both of whom have similarly large discographies with various projects and bands? Could be daunting but I'd be down for those as well.
 

Was already considering doing a Steven Wilson one similar to this (all albums SW), so that might pop up sooner than you think.

While this one was going on, I was thinking of how a Mike Portnoy studio albums ranking would go. You'd see a lot of the same (NMB, TA, Neal Solo, FC), but also having DT, TWD, AMob, MA, LTE, OSI, A7X, JP's new album... and a bunch of others I've forgotten... could be really interesting.

[The Letter M]

Thanks for all the thanks!

Would you consider doing one for Roine Stolt or Steven Wilson, both of whom have similarly large discographies with various projects and bands? Could be daunting but I'd be down for those as well.
 

Was already considering doing a Steven Wilson one similar to this (all albums SW), so that might pop up sooner than you think.

Sweet. I only know PT, SW solo, No-Man, and Blackfield, as well as Storm Corrosion. Never got into IEM or Bass Communion, but even without those, there's a good 25+ albums to sort, not including B-side compilations like Recordings (which should definitely count).

-Marc.

[The Realm]

Bridge Across Forever - number 3 for me. I do slightly favour The Whirlwind as far as Transatlantic goes but this is a great album. Well deserved number 1 placing.

Thanks Kev for running the countdown.

[KevShmev]

Thanks for all the thanks!

Would you consider doing one for Roine Stolt or Steven Wilson, both of whom have similarly large discographies with various projects and bands? Could be daunting but I'd be down for those as well.
 

Was already considering doing a Steven Wilson one similar to this (all albums SW), so that might pop up sooner than you think.

While this one was going on, I was thinking of how a Mike Portnoy studio albums ranking would go. You'd see a lot of the same (NMB, TA, Neal Solo, FC), but also having DT, TWD, AMob, MA, LTE, OSI, A7X, JP's new album... and a bunch of others I've forgotten... could be really interesting.

Well, with 10 DT albums and 19 albums with Neal (looking at the ones that made the top 25 here), I suspect those would be most of a top 25 with maybe a few of the LTE albums squeezing in there and perhaps an OSI, but I doubt any of those others would have a chance. Time for something a bit different.

Sweet. I only know PT, SW solo, No-Man, and Blackfield, as well as Storm Corrosion. Never got into IEM or Bass Communion, but even without those, there's a good 25+ albums to sort, not including B-side compilations like Recordings (which should definitely count).

I think 25 is pretty doable, as I am sure most fans here at least know PT, SW, Storm Corrosion and Blackfield, which is more than 25 counting EPs and whatnot.

[HOF]

My top 25 MP list would definitely include TWD, OSI, and LTE in addition to DT and Neal Morse stuff, but I’m sure the overall list would be populated with lots of Neal Morse albums that we all just talked about.

I don’t think I could get to 25 Steven Wilson albums. Like PT I’d have to sit that one out.

Would be fun to do a list of albums from the Genesis family tree. Could include the band plus solo albums by Gabriel, Collins, Banks, Rutherford, and Hackett. Could expand it beyond those too but some of those like the Ant Phillips albums might be more obscure. Not sure how many people it would pull in, but I could easily do 25 just for the classic 5 piece lineup.

[MinistroRaven]

My complete list:

25 - Beware Of Darkness
24 - V
23 - Sola Gratia
22 - Innocence & Danger
21 - SMPT:e
20 - Lifeline
19 - The Absolute Universe
18 - Second Nature
17 - Bridge Across Forever
16 - The Light
15 - Third Degree
14 - The Grand Experiment
13 - Troika
12 - Testimony 2
11 - Momentum
10 - Flying Colors
9 - The Great Adventure
8 - Testimony
7 - The Similitude Of A Dream
6 - Snow
5 - One
4 - Question Mark
3 - Kaleidoscope
2 - The Whirlwind
1 - Sola Scriptura


I feel SS has been robbed LOL

[Willthescout7]

My full rankings:
1. Question Mark
2. Songs from the Highway
3. Testimony
4. To God be the Glory
5. SMPT:e
6. Lifeline
7. Life & Times
8. Jesus Christ the Exorcist
9. The River
10. One
11. Bridge Across Forever
12. Sola Gratia
13. The Light
14. The Great Adventure
15. Neal Morse
16. The Similitude of a Dream
17. Flying Colors
18. The Grand Experiment
19. Sola Scriptura
20. Snow
21. Beware of Darkness
22. It's Not Too Late
23. V
24. Testimony 2
25. Get in the Boat
26. The Whirlwind
27. Momentum
28. The Absolute Universe
29. Songs from November
30. Last Minute Christmas Album
31. Third Degree
32. Second Nature
33. Trokia
34. Mighty to Save
35. Day for Night
36. Send the Fire
37. Innocence and Danger
38. God Won't Give Up
39. The Kindness of Strangers
40. Kaleidoscope
41. Secret Place
42. Lead Me Lord

Thanks Kev for organizing this!